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LLUSTRATED.

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THE AUTHOR IN HIS SANCTUM.

CANOE AND CAMERA:

TWO HUNDRED MILE TOUR

THROUGH

THE MAINE FORESTS.

Thomas Sedgwick Steele.

' If thou art worn and hard beset
With sorrows that thou wouldst forget,
If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep
Thy heart from fainting, and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills! — no tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears."

Longfellow.

WITH SIXTY ILLUSTRATIONS,

BOSTON:
ESTES AND LAURIAT,

PUBLISHERS.

University Press:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.

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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 1.

An Angler's Soliloquy.— Isaak Walton's ideas.— A fish-
mg minister.— The route to the woods.— Moosehead
Lake and vicinity, I'age 19

CHAPTER II.

The different routes through Maine.— The Party, Guides,
Baggage, Provisions, Canoes, Arms.— Camp appetite.—
Studymg Geography.— The start.— Bid adieu to Moose-
head Lake.— North East Carry.— West Branch of the
Penobscot.— First Camp on Moosehorn stream.

Page 27

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

Our first Camp at mouth of Moosehorn stream. — A.ccommodating one's
self to circumstances. — The "Rips" of the "West Branch. — Running
the Rapids. — Pine Stream Palls. — Chesuncook Lake. — Umbazooksus
River. — A "Bear" welcome. — Mud Pond and "Carry." — A Picture
diflBcult to photograph. — Third Camp at Chamberlin Lake.

Page 51

CHAPTER IV.

Chamberlin Farm and Lake. — A novel fly-trap. — A lesson in Natural
History. — Telosmis Lake. — The " Cut." — A three days' rain-storm.
"Webster Lake and Dam. — An Apparition. — The weird stillness of
the primeval forests. — An accommodating fly catcher, . Page 64

CHAPTER V.

Passage of Webster Stream. — An exciting day's sport. — The damaged
canoes. — The canvas boat triumphant. — Grand Falls. — Photograph-
ing along the route. — Indian "Carry." — East Branch of the Penob-
scot.— Matagamonsis Lake. — The discovery of a new Lake. — Trout
Brook Farm. — Grand, or Matagamon Lake. — A captured sal-
mon, Page 93

CHAPTER VL

Dangers of wandering from Camp. — An experience on Lake Superior. —
The Falls of the East Branch. — Stair Falls. — Incidents of Camp
life. An Enchanted Bower. — Hunt's Farm. — An Artist's Canoe. —
The ascent of Hunt's Mountain. — A reverie. — "Whetstone Falls. —
Discovery of Jasper on Ledge Falls. — Dawn of Civilization, — Mat-
tawamkeag. — The East Branch Canvas-ed, Page 117

ILLUSTRATION.S.

1. THE AUTHOR IN HIS SANCTUM, ...-..•... Frontispiece.

2. DEDICATION, Paok 3

3. THE ANGLER, 5

4. CANOE AND CAMERA, 17

4a. AN ODD SPECIMEN, . 18

5. ISAAK WALTON 21

6. KINEO HOUSE, 25

7. ANTICIPATION, 26

8. PICKING A COURSE 28

9. MAP OF THE TOUR THROUGH THE MAINE FORESTS, ... 30

10. THE GUIDES 33

11. WE DREAM OF GAME, 38

12. HOME APPETITE, 41

13. CAMP APPETITE 41

14. MORRIS'S— NORTHEAST CARRY 43

15. IN SYMPATHY WITH NATURE 46

16. DISCOURAGEMENTS, 48

17. "CHANGING PASTURE," 49

18. PENKNIFE SOUVENIRS, 52

19. PINE STREAM FALLS ... 54

30. MUD POND CARRY ' ... 56

8 ILLUSTRATIONS.

21. MUD POND— LOOKING EAST 59

22. "THIS IS THE WAY I LONG HAVE SOUGHT," 62

23. REFLECTIONS, 63

24. CHAMBERLIN FARM— LOOKING WEST, 65

25. THE ROOM INTO WHICH WE WERE USHERED, . . . . . 66

26. CAMP ON CHAMBERLIN LAKE, 67

27. NOT IN THE PATENT OFFICE 70

28. A STUDY IN NATURAL HISTORY 71

29. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 71

30. TELOS CUT AND LAKE 73

31. PHOTOGRAPHY— THE WET AND DRY PROCESS ILLUSTRATED, . . 77

32. TELOS DAM AND RIVER 79

34. AN APPARITION, 83

35. WEBSTER LAKE AND DAM, 86

36. FLY CATCHERS VERSUS FLY FISHING 88

37. ALLUREMENTS, 90

38. STUDY OF TROUT-BY THE AUTHOR 91

39. RUNNING RAPIDS ON WEBSTER RIVER, 95

40. LUNCH TIME 99

41. IT'S NOT ALL POETRY, 101

42. GRAND FALLS, 103

43. STARTING A BOOM, 107

45. A BOOM 109

46. DISCOVERY OP A NEW LAKE, Ill

47. MATAGAMONSIS LAKE 113

48. OUR SALMON 114

49. MATAGAMON OR GRAND LAKE, . 115

50. ON THE EAST BRANCH, c . . . . 120

51. DROPPING CANOES OVER FALLS, 122

52. ACCEPTING THE SITUATION, 123

53. STAIR FALLS = 125

54. HULLING MACHINE FALLS, 126

ILL USTRA TI0N8. 9

55. THE ARCHES-EAST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT, .... 128

56. HUNT'S FARM, 130

57. MT. KATAHDIN— STUDY BY F. E. CHURCH, 132

68. JUNCTION OF EAST AND WEST BRANCHES OP THE PENOBSCOT, 1.34

59. GLIMPSES OP CIVILIZATION BEGIN TO DAWN, 137

60. NET RESULTS, 139

Introduction.

LOVE for the woods and out-door sports begins
early in life. I can hardly remember when the sight
of a gnn or fish-rod did not awaken within my boy-
ish fancy a feverish desire to follow their lead, be the
tramp ever so hard. There never was anything to stop
the growth of this passion until I reached the age of
ten years, when I nearly destroyed a boy's eye with
an arrow, in my endeavors to excel in archery.

This act slightly dampened my ardor for some
months, and retarded that progression in field sports
I was then making.

There is also something so free, so stimulating in the
woods life, uncontaminated by the gossip, allurements,
and exacting dress of the usual watering places, that
after one season's enjoyment, a return to. these wilder-

1 2 INTROD UCTIOir

nesses, and repeating its pleasures, is the constant
thouglit of the future.

It also teaches very early self-reliance, and a phi-
losophical endurance of many conditions of life, which
add to one's cheerfulness, while one is surprised how
few of the necessities are essential to produce happiness.

" Man 's rich with little, were his judgment true ;
Nature is frugal, and her wants are few."

The study also of natural history in the woods takes
one into a realm which has no bounds, constantly
enlarging his love and admiration of God's works. The
oft-repeated quotation, "Spare the rod and spoil the
child," has been misconstrued for many a long day, and
if I had known early in life its real significance it would
hardly have made so doleful an impression.

There is no doubt to-day in my mind that this " rod "
meant a flshing-rod, a,nd that the timely cherishing of
it in youth tends to develop that portion of one's
nature to which the former use was entirely innocent.

" The surest road to health, say what you will,
Is never to suppose we shall be ill.
Most of those evils we poor mortals know
From doctors and imagination flow."

INTRODUCTION. 13

And now, after spending many of the annual short
vacations allotted to an active business life in various
parts of this country, from Canada to Florida, in the
exhilarating sport of hunting, fishing, and exploring, and
deriving great physical good thereby, it would not seem
strange that the writer should be desirous of exciting
in the hearts of others a taste for like recreations. In
placing before my readers this sketch of a late canoe
tour through Maine — especially that j)ortion pertaining
to the east branch of the Penobscot — I am j)erfectly
aware that no two trips through that region can be
made under the same circumstances. All days in the
woods are alike, and still they are very unlike. Weather,
height of water, companions, canoes, guides, sunshine or
shadow, a hundred and one things, go to make a day
pleasant or unpleasant to the tourist. During the month
occupied in making this trip, the writer experienced
but four days of rain. But the first rain-storm could
not have been more opportune, as it raised the water
of Webster stream to a height that permitted the pas-
sage of my four canoes, when otherwise I should have
endured a wearisome " carry " of seven miles. Unless
there is sufficient water in Webster stream to float a
canoe with ease, I should not recommend the tour of

1 4 INTROD UCTION.

the east brancli, for the numerous portages will hardly
compensate for the pleasures of the trij^.

The writer distinctly remembers meeting an angler
who had followed the recommendation of a guide book
on Maine, and attempted the journey from AUagash
river to Chamberlin lake. Instead of an abundance
of water, the stream was almost diy, and a "carry"
of seven miles had to be made to Chamberlin lake.
Again, the canvas boat added no little enjoyment to
the pleasures of the excursion, and the trip would
have lost many of its bright experiences without its com-
panionship.

True, it received many a cut, but was more easily
re[)aired than a birch bark, while its qualities of endur-
ance after such an ordeal permitted it to spend the
following winter season under the tropical skies of
Florida.

No better companion could have been selected than
Mr. H. K. Morley, of the Continental Life Insurance
Company, Hartford (the "quartermaster" of the expe-
dition), and to his suggestions and efforts to make the
best of all difficulties the writer acknowledges himself
indebted. It is surprising how selfishness, egotism,
and other like traits of character will develop in the
woods when it was never recognized in the individual

INTROD UCTION. 1 5

at home, and one must liave the true spirit of patient
endurance for the sake of accomplishment in order at
times to enjoy the forest life.

Thus the entire trip was made on the " flood tide,"
from the state of the weather to the volume of water
in the streams, facilitating the taking of photographs,
and adding height and power to the many picturesque
falls on the route. Until I am corrected by further
explorations, I think I am right in the discovery of a
new lake (not found on any map), between Mataga-
monsis and Matao-amon lakes.

An enlargement of Hay creek has been suggested
as this body of water, but if so, all the larger lakes in
this region are but a part of the preceding stream which
empties into them. This lake has the same area of
square miles as Telosmis lake, and empties its waters in
to the sluggish stream which connects the two large
bodies of water just mentioned.

The pleasure of canoeing these undiscovered lakes
and streams, and living from day to day upon their
resources, was an element of indescribable delight.
Nowhere do such rich thoughts of God's bounty, grand-
eur, and control of nature impress one as in the depths
of the forests, and there are reveries forced upon one,
for which a city of brick walls and dusty streets have no

1 6 INTBOD UCTIOm

affinity. The individuality of each tree, the strange and
rare plants and flowers scattered along the indistinct
path one wanders, all coupled with the weird stillness of
the forest, bring one nearer to God and His works than
almost any other situation. I do not suggest in this
book the various ways of camping out, or the necessary
preparations for the same, as there are special works on
those subjects; I simply desire to direct the attention of
tourists, and more especially artists, to a section of Maine
no^v hut little Icnown,, but wdiich, if once explored, will
yield to them a bright harvest of pleasure and studies.

THE AUTHOR.

Haetford, Conn.

Canoe and Camera.

TWO HUNDRED MILES THROUGH THE MAINE FORESTS.

ILLUSTRATED

Tkue Williams, Benjamin Day, Aug. Will, and other Artists.

'£

CHAPTER I.

" I in these flowery meads would be ;
These ciystal streams should solace me ;
To whose harmonious, bubbling noise
, with my angle would rejoice."

Walton.

AN ANGLER'S SOLILOQUY.— ISAAK WALTON'S IDEAS.— A FISH-
ING MINISTER.— THE ROUTE TO THE WOODS.— MOOSEHEAD
LAKE AND VICINITY.

J-N the good old times, when tlie requirements of busi-
ness kept one out in tlie open air, and each client or
patient resided many miles away, and the only communi-
cation was by foot or on horseback, one did not need the
indispensable rest and recreation of to-day.

But now all is changed, and within a hand's grasp at
our offices -we can communicate by the sti'ange wires of
the telephone or telegraph with friends miles away, and
save ourselves those steps which would no doubt be of
great benefit if taken.

^ 2

20 CANOE AND CAMERA.

In tliis fast world of ours, where the work of a week
is croAvded into a day, recreation is a necessity, and
nowhere, it seems to me, has it greater recuperative
power than in the depths of the forest.

It is not as a plea for the angler that I pen these
lines — he asks for neither judge nor jury on his tastes,
although they no doubt frequently receive the verdict of
both ; he is a law unto himself.

"It is a very easy thing to scoff at any art or I'ecrea-
tion, a little wit mixed with ill-nature, confidence, and
malice will do it, though they are often caught in their
own trap."

It is only a few weeks since that I was rallied on my
pet hobby by a prominent business man, who thought
one could hardly be in his right mind who had a fond-
ness for life in the woods, and that it must give one a
tendency to coarseness, rather than improving our higher
and more aesthetic tastes. But this gentleman was wel-
come to his ideas, for he Avas then an iuA^alid from a
nervous disease, and had spent the prime of his life
regaining his health, Avhen possibly an occasional day's
tramp beside a trout stream would have been a matter
of economy to l^oth purse and body.

The father of anglers, Isaak Walton, puts this same
idea in a still better light, for although born in

CANOE AND CAMERA.

1593, lie knew how to read the human nature of to-day;
he says: "Yes! there are many grave and serious men

Avho pity us anglers,
but there are many
more grave and serious men whom we an-
glers condemn and pity."

"Men that are taken to be grave because
nature hath made them of a sour complexion, money-
getting men that spend all their time, first in getting.

22 CANOE AND CAMERA,

and next in anxious care to keep it! men that are con
demned to be ricli, and then always busy and discon-
tented— for these poor rich men we anglers pity them
perfectly, and stand in no need to borrow theii* thoughts
to think ourselves so happy."

Some one has said that an angler consists of a rod
with a fool at one end and a fish at the other. But
Walton, in his meanderings beside the streams, is re-
ported to have had the constant companionship of a
book, and between the nibbles of the fish stored his
mind with useful knowledge.

While hunting in the western part of Connecticut
last autumn, a good story was told me of a minister who,
soon after his settlement in the parish, greatly annoyed
his flock by his habitual fondness for angling. He
would start off early on Monday morning, and would
keep up the diversion until late Saturday night ; never-
theless, the quality of his sermons, and the deep thoughts
which they contained, so pleased his peoj^le that similar
excursions were suggested to the pastors of other
churches in the town.

So much for an introduction to the inmost thoughts
of a lover of the angle, but possibly you would like to
know how to reach the solitudes of Maine, whose influ-
ences are so bewitching to the x^rriter, and where, witli

CANOE AND CAMERA. 23

the reader as companion, lie proposes to enjoy a canoe
ride of two hundred miles.

To one about to make a trip to Maine, we Avould say,
start in all cases from Boston, even though you live in
Chicago. Take the 7 p.m. express on the Eastern rail-
road for Bangor, thereby having a good ni;;lit's rest in a
sleeper, aw^aking refreshed for the pleasure* of the next
day's journey.

But those who have never traveled this road will do
well to see their flight be not in the night, for, commenc-
ing with Boston, its main line extends along the shore,
giving here and there glimpses of quiet bays and shady
inlets, and through cities noted .-for their thrift and pros-
perity almost from the country's settlement.

One would be well repaid for a day spent at almost
any station along the route, as the eastern shore of New
England has often been the subject for busy pens and
famous pencils. From Massachusetts Bay to Passama-
quoddy and the Isle of Great Manan, it is filled with
nooks and beaches where, in the hot months of summer,
the seeker for rest and renewed health can choose the
spot suited to his taste. The Eastern railroad — with its
numerous branches and connecting lines — fonns the most
direct and desirable means of access to these points of
interest.

24 CANOE AND CAMERA.

It does not, liowever, limit the choice to the seashore,
for it leads also to the heart of the famous White Moun-
tains, and to the vast and partially explored lake region
of Maine, towards which I had set my face.

Lynn, eleven miles from Boston, famed for its
immense factories of boots and shoes, lies at the head
of Nahant Bay, from which there is a delightful drive
along the shore to Nahant, a noted, picturesque watering-
place. Near by is Swampscott, its shores lined wdth
summer cottages, and from here a short branch road runs
to rocky Marblehead, a spot mentioned in letters of
travel as early as the year 1633.

Salem, four miles further on, famous since the days
of witchcraft, and once the principal port of entry for
New England, not only has its pleasant situation to
attract the visitor, but is full of relics of the olden time
of interest to the antiquary. It was the birthplace of
many men whose names have become a part of oui*
nation's history and literature.

At Beverly, the Gloucester branch leads down to the
sea at Cape Ann, with its sunny beaches and rocky head-
lands, quiet when the wind is off shore, but where the
waves come thundering in when driven before an
easterly gale.

But we have hardly time to speak of Newburyport,

CANOE AND CAMERA.

another old seacoast town, and the lovely view to be had
from its heights of the surrounding country and ocean,
but hasten through to Salisbury, Hampton, and Kye
Beach.

Portsmouth is quiet and quaint, and at Conway Junc-
tion, eleven miles from Portsmouth, passengers change
cars for the White Mountains. At Portland, the angler
makes choice of the I'outes to the two great trouting
paradises of Maine — Rangeley Lakes and Moosehead
Lake.

}i& If «*W*'*^=:r^s

If to the former place, he takes the cars for Farming-
ton, eighty-five miles directly north from Portland, and
then by stage thirty-six , miles over the mountains to
Kimball's Head of the First Rangeley Lake, where he
will receive a hearty welcome fi'om as cordial a company

CANOE AND CAMERA.

of fishermen as it lias been my pleasure in other seasons
to enjoy.

If the latter be his choice, guns, rods, blankets, and
other camp equipage are shifted to the train of the
Maine Central railroad for Bangor, where the cars are
ao:ain chancred for the road to Blanchard, which is twelve
miles from Moosehead Lake. After a substantial dinner,
the tourist mounts to the top of the commodious Con-
cord stage drawn by four horses, and enjoys a delightful
ride of eleven miles over the hills to Greenville, foot of
Moosehead Lake. Here the baggage is again changed to
a steamer, and a most enjoyable sail of twenty miles
lands one at the Kineo House, which stands on a prom-
inent point of rocks extending far out into Moosehead
Lake, a convenient center of attraction for those who
dislike the unadulterated life in the woods.

ANTICIPATION.

CHAPTER 11.

" A bard is weak enough you'll fiud,

A humble cat-gut twangler :

But for a man of simple mind

Commend me to an Angler.

He'll fish and fish the whole year round

Devotedly fanatic,

To catch one fish that weighs a pound

And then his joy's ecstatic."

THE DIFFERENT ROUTES THROUGH MAINE.— THE PARTY,
GUIDES, — BAGGAGE, — PROVISIONS, — CANOES, — ARMS. — A
CA^IP APPETITE. -STUDYING GEOGRAPHY— THE START.—
BID ADIEU TO MOOSEHEAD LAKE.— NORTHEAST " CARRY."—
WEST BRANCH OF THE PENOBSCOT.— LANDING FOR OUR
FIRST CAMP MOUTH OF MOOSEHORN STREAM.

UN leaving Mooseliead Lake, tlie seeker for healtli or
recreation in Maine, who desires to study nature in its
primeval state, and drink from lier fountains tlie blessings
whicli slie can so bountifully bestow, lias three routes of

CANOE AND CAMERA.

travel before liim. These routes are known as the St.
John's River, the West Branch of the Penobscot, and the

East Branch of the Penobscot
trips, and have for their point
of departure the Kineo House,
Moosehead Lake, where all
is necessary in
supplies can al-
be obtained.
e most frequent-
and on ac-
count of
its ease
generally
recommen-
ded by the
guides, is
that to the
St. John's
River,
which one
reaches by

PICKING A COURSE. P a S S 1 U g

north from
Moosehead Lake through the West Branch, Chesuncook,

MOOSEHEAD LAKE

AND THE HEADWATERS OF THE
PENOBSCOT HIVER

RHEP/WKD EXPRESSLr FOR T.3EDCW1CK STtElE

^'CMOE & CAMERA"

Br W.R.CURTIS C.C.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 31

Chambeiiin, Eagle, and Churchill Lakes to the Allagash
River, and thence northeast through Canada, emerging
from the woods at Grand Falls, New Brunswick. The
second, or the West Branch of the Penobscot trip, passes
southeast through Chesuncook to Ripogenus Lake, and
follows the West Branch through Pamedomcook and
Twin Lakes into the Penobscot River.

The third and most difficult course through this wilder-
ness, is the tour of the East Branch of the Penobscot,
which leaves the St. John's route at Chamberlin Lake,
and passes south through Telosmis Lake and then east
through Telos and Webster Lake and River to the Mat-
agamonsis and Matagamon or Grand Lake into the East
Branch, and after tumbling over the most picturesque
falls and rapids in the entire State, unites with the West
Branch of the Penobscot at Medway.^

To retain my good health, and enjoy for the fifth season

* Still another trip can be made from Churchill Lake through Spider,
Echo, and Mansungan Lake and River, to the Aroostook waters comring out
in Maine at Caribou.

Col. Lyman B. GofF of Pawtucket, R. I., with his guides Kelly and Man-
sell, surveyed this route last season, cutting a good path on the many "car-
ries" for the easy transportation of canoes, and to him the author is indebted
for new and correct drawings of that region which have been added to this
map. But the scenery is uninteresting and the difficulties will not compen-
sate one for the labor endured, and woe betide the tourist if the water is low.

32 CANOE AND CAMERA.

the dearly-loved woods and lakes of Maine, tlie snmmer of
1879 soon found me again within her fascinations, a wil-
ling captive to her charms. We have never failed in the
past to impress upon our friends that one companion is
sufficient for company in the woods, but this year, the
party although it had small beginnings increased in the
ratio of the demands of my tastes. As gathered upon
th^ deck of the little steamer " Day Dream " one bright
summer morning, while on her way from the Kineo
House to the head of Moosehead Lake, we numbered
six souls.

I had chosen for my route this year, the East Branch
of the Penobscot River, a canoe paddle of almost two
hundred miles, as offering in its swift running streams,
lovely waterfalls, and majestic mountains, that excitement
and adventure which my love of nature craved. In ad-
dition to the writer, the party was divided as follows :
" Quartermaster," photographic artist, and three guides,
named respectively Bowley, lYeller, and Morris. My
friend who is designated as " Quartermaster " did not re-
ceive his title from any such position in my expedition, but
from holding an office of like character in a New England
regiment during our late war, and he proved by the daily
use of his knife in arranging the comforts of the camp,
that he was to the manor born.

THE GUIDES.

Bowley. Morris.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 35

Our artist was from the "Land of Steady Habits,"
whose sole duty it was to care for the delicate camera
and glass j)lates, together with the necessary but ill-fla-
vored bottles of his kit, and to be constantly on the alert
for choice, or grand bits of scenery along the route. In
such a tour as this, with the many accidents ever atten-
dant on camp life, it was no small matter to carry through
the wilderness the articles pertaining to our photograph-
er's kit.

AVe had fifty glass plates six by eight inches each,
which were prepared and developed on the ground by
what is known as the " wet process." Careless treatment
in cartage on the " carries," or a sudden jar might at any
moment damage them beyond recovery, which would im-
mediately subvert one of the principal objects of the
exploration. Then each chemical had its individuality of
importance, from the ether to the collodion, the destroy-
ing of which would put an end to the pleasures of photo-
graphing.

The first and oldest of the guides, Bowley, was a man
of forty-eight years, and lived at Shirley, Maine. He was
five and a half feet high, weighed one hundred and ninety
pounds, had brown whiskers, turning to gray, checkered
shirt, weather-beaten suit, soft brown hat, and a kind
sympathetic face, which I found before the trip was ended

36 CANOE AND CAMERA.

truly expressed his manly character. I was sometimes
inclined to think him slow, and to find fault with the con-
sumptive color of his biscuit and " flipjacks," and urged
him to greater diligence and variety in the cooking depart-
ment, but in matters of importance he always proved his
soundness — but he had one fault, he could scent a " carry "
three days ahead, and remember its hardships and bur-
dens two days after. He delighted to tell of his many
interesting experiences in the wilderness, and of his geo-
logical researches through Maine some years ago with Prof.
Hitchcock, of Amherst college, while his moose, bear, and
caribou stories were endless.

The second guide, Weller, aged thirty-seven years,
was a French Canadian from Quebec, but living at this
time in Greenville, Me. He was five feet four inches
high, weighed one hundred and fifty-one pounds, with
reddish moustache and whiskers, brown hair, and was
dressed in a dark-colored woolen suit. He was a fine
waterman, and occasionally witty, as is proverbial with
his class.

The third and last guide, Morris, was a vivacious
young man of twenty-three summers, but who looked
all of thirty. He was about five feet three inches high,
weighed one hundred and sixty pounds, had light brown
hair and moustache. Dark blue flannel shirt and woolen

CANOE AND CAMERA. 37

pants constituted his habiliments, which latter garment
early in the day proved its inferiority by sundry tears
which gave him a picturesque appearance highly appre-
ciated by our aitist.

A black felt hat was the crowning feature of his attire,
around which was wound " casts " of varied colored arti-
ficial trout flies. He was the most venturesome canoeman
of the party, ever &st to try the dangers of the many
waterfalls and cataracts on our route. Morris was also
the hunter, and many a plumj) duck and partridge found
its way to om' table through his activity, which quality
is always appreciated by the camper-out.

Our personal belongings were numerous, consisting of
woolen and rubber blankets, mbber wading stockings,
moccasin shoes, fly rods, guns, landing nets, a lantern,
and the very necessary black-fly ointment, consisting of
oil of tar, glycerine, gum camphor, and oil of pennyroyal.
We also had extra changes of underclothing, woolen
stockings, buckskin suits, and an assortment of tools,
waxed ends, and silk thread for the repairs of broken fly
rods if such should be our misfortune.

The number of weapons composing our armory was
one Sharps, one Ballard, and one Spencer magazine rifle,
one 38-calibre revolver, and a double barrel shot-gun
which also contained two auxiliary rifle barrels. Each

CANOE AND CAMERA.

man also carried tlie usual long slieatli knife, which latter
article was never drawn in a more deadly conflict than

T< It **i

m^-

WE DREAM OF GAME.

that between hard tack and salt pork ; nevertheless it
was often a trial which brought into play the most heroic

CANOE AND CAMERA. 39

qualities of the arm. These made ns at once feel invin-
cible against the attack of Avild beasts, while at the
same time it encouraged such hopes of success in the cap-
ture of wild animals that it even troubled the nightly
rest of some of the members of the expedition. Three
birch-bark canoes and one portable folding canvas canoe
constituted our ships of burden, which exerted great influ-
ence in exploring the wilds, and added to the enjoyment
of its pleasures.

How much poetiy and romance the words, birch-bark
canoe, suggest to our mind ! the grand old forests have
more tender associations when one is paddled through
their lights and shadows in a birch canoe ; there are
thoughts and reveries which make themselves felt as one
examines their construction — a natural fitness of things
to the regions in which they are used.

The delicate-colored bark stripped from a prominent
tree is cut at the ends and gathered up into unifonn bow
and stern, cut and then brought together again at the
sides alternately to lift the lines fore and aft ; this gives
a surface to meet the waves, producing that buoyancy so
pleasing to the craft. Then a gunwale, of strips of wood,
is affixed, sewed with spruce roots or rattan, and the
whole lined from stem to stern with thin strips of wood
called " knees." A birch canoe will weigh from eighty-

40 CANOE AND CAMERA.

five to one hundred and fifteen pounds when averaging
eighteen to twenty feet; but I have occasionally seen
those that weighed three times that amount, and had a
longitude of twenty-eight to thirty feet.

My portable canvas canoe made for this special
occasion was fifteen feet long with a weight of only forty-
five pounds, when the fish-rod-like stretcher was inserted.
This canoe could be collapsed at a moment's notice, placed
in a bag seventeen by thirty-eight inches, and carried on
the shoulders with ease by one person, while it would
float eight hundred and fifty pounds.

Before the month's journey was completed, I found I
could leap falls and rapids more safely than in a birch-
bark canoe, and although I often paid for my audacity
by cutting its surface, it was easily sewed, waterproofed,
and I continued my way. On account of its convenient
construction and weight it could be easily transported
through the woods to the small bodies of water off our
main course, and explorations made not accessible to a
birch canoe.

As we were to pass through a country uninhabited
we were obliged to provide ourselves from the start with
food sufiicient for the entire thirty days' sojourn, and it
may be interesting to the reader to know the quantity
and variety of the supplies, should he ever undertake a

CANOE AND CAMERA.

similar enterprise. We did not rely upon the game or
fish of the country we were canoeing ; like excursions in

the past had taught us that these
' o\( \\W^ \v"^\^ articles were more incidental sur-
\A\%\\\^pv),,J^^\ \^ prises, than an excess of the daily
' ^^^ 1^5 menu. Very few tourists to Maine
I'Mk select this, the hardest of routes,

and we found, afterwards, that

we were the first 'party vjlio

liad passed doivn the East Branch

of the Pen-

ohscot river

during the

year 1879.

A "camp ap-
petite " is something entirely differ-
ent from what one enjoys at home.
One would turn in aversion fi^om
the plainness of the fare were it
placed on the table. But the sur-
roundings and the daily vigorous
exercise seem to make one forget
the homely dishes, and articles re-
fused at our own boards are de-
voured in the woods with a\ddity.

HOME APPETITE.

CAMP APPETITE.

Most of the pro-

42 CANOE AND CAMERA.

visions were packed into wooden pails of various sizes,
tlie balance in canvas bags, and were assorted as fol-
lows : tliirty-f our pounds of liard tack or bread, seventy-
three pounds of flour, one bushel of potatoes, twelve
pounds of salt pork, four pounds of beans, two packages
of baking powders, two and one half pounds of cheese,
ten pounds of ham, three pounds of candles, one bottle
each of pickles and chow-chow, three cans of potted ham,
seven and three-fourths pounds of onions, twelve pounds
of canned corned beef, six pounds of maple sugar, one
dozen cans of condensed milk, three pounds of tea, seven
pounds of coffee, and thirteen pounds of granulated sugar,
besides a quart of oil for our lantern, which latter article
was one of the most useful of the lot. Sugar, either ma-
ple or granulated, always disappears in the woods at an
early date, and the immense quantities of luscious blue-
berries and blackberries to be had at any time along our
route greatly facilitated its departure.

Our canoes, when packed with all the above articles,
and further embellished by sundry tea and coffee pots,
kettles, frying-pans, broilers, bakers, tin plates and cups,
reminded one of the early days of our forefathers and
their pilgrimages to the '' far west." The country toward-s
which we had set our faces was entirely new to tourists,
and but one of our guides (Weller) had ever explored

CANOE AND CAMERA. 45

its hidden depths, and even his memory was so treacher-
ous as to be of little service to us. Kecently issued maps
were faulty, and we were obliged to make many correc-
tions on them and manufacture the geography as we sailed
along. On reaching the head of Moosehead Lake our
many boxes and bags, Just enumerated, were transfeiTed
to the sadly dilapidated wharf at the Northeast "carry,"
and afterwards removed by the guides to a heavy lumber
box wagon drawn by a single horse, while the birch
canoes, supported by long poles, were lashed at the sides
of the cart.

Our artist, to secure his photographic materials against
harm, rode in front with the driver, but the writer, in
company with the quartermaster and the guides, trudged
along in the sand at the rear.

This " carry " or path is about two miles long, rising
gradually towards the middle from each end, and termi-
nates on the north at the West branch of the Penobscot
river. There are log houses where one can obtain dinner
at either end of this portage, but as our guide, Morris,
lived at the further point, our party chose to lunch at his
house, and our recollections of his mother's preserved
strawberries, fresh cream and bread are alive to this hour.
After dinner we immediately betook ourselves to the
river's bank, launched the birch canoes, stretched the

GANOE AND CAMERA.

canvas canoe into shape, and, balancing the crafts to a
nicety with our baggage, swung off down the stream for
a month's exploration of the inmost heart of Maine

^.-v^-^T^-ffii

IN SYMPATHY WITH NATURE.

One well knows the delights attending a picnic in the
woods for a day — arising at early morn and carefully

CANOE AND CAMERA. 47

stowing away in baskets siindiy choice and toothsome
articles, and filling the corners of the basket with beau-
tiful bright flowers fi'om our gardens, we resorted to the
woods and dividing into groups under the shady trees we
spread on temporary tables the savory dishes, and strove
to the best of oui' ability to get in sympathy with nature.*
But think of a month's picnic dcdly filled with excitement
and pleasure, from running rapids and falls in a canoe to
enticing the wary trout, or picking strange flowers and
berries by the brookside, and at night resting one's tired
but invigorated body under a snow white tent !

The west branch of the Penobscot (or Rocky) river,
after leaving the terminus of the Northeast " carry " at
Morris's, flows steadily to the southeast with hardly a
ripple for some two miles until it reaches the mouth of
Lobster stream; then a stronger cuiTent is perceptible
with " rips," and this continues for two and a hall miles
more, when after passing a small island the water again
becomes "dead." The birch barks, paddled by guides
Weller and Morris, preceded us do^vn the river, while
the quarteiTuaster and I followed in the canvas canoe,

* If I ever write another book I think I shall eschew sentiment. I thought
at the time that '- sympathy mth nature " was very good, but I find that it
has been thrown away on at least one — th? artist. T. S. S.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

the foiirtli canoe witli Guide Bowley and the artist bring-
ing up the rear.

Could there have been a looker-on from the shore, he
would possibly have thought it was a government expe-
dition in search of the " northeast passage ; " but although
our destination was about as little frequented it was not
so grave an affair.

After paddling until late in the afternoon through
eight or ten miles of still water we made our first camp
on the right bank of the river, at the mouth of Moose-
horn stream; and transferring our "kit" to the shore
turned over our canoes in the sun to dry.

DISCOURAGEMENTS.

CHAPTER III.

"Within the sun-lit forest,

Our roof the bright blue sky,
Where streamlets flow, and wild flowers blow.
We lift our hearts on high."

OUR FIRST CAMP AT MOUTH OF MOOSEHORN STREAM.— AC-
COMMODATING ONE'S SELF TO CIRCUMSTANCES.— THE
" REPS " OF THE WEST BRANCH.— RUNNING THE RAPIDS.—
PINE STREAM FALLS.— CHESUNCOOK LAKE.— UMBAZOOKSUS
RIVER.— A "BEAR" WELCOME.— MUD POND AND "CARRY."
—A PICTURE DIFFICULT TO PHOTOGRAPH.— THIRD CAMP
ON CHAMBERLIN LAKE.

DESCRIPTION of our first camp in the woods will
acquaint tlie reader with the arrangement of the many
after, and make him familiar with the j)icture of our daily
surroundings

Our wall tent, ten by twelve feet, was soon imfolded,
and, selecting a prominent point of the high bank which

52 CANOE AND CAMERA.

commanded the river, we immediately set about cutting
the three necessary poles on which to erect it. We trim-
med all projecting twigs from the ridge and front upright
poles, but left them on the rear one that we might make

it useful — on which to hang cups,
belts, candlesticks, and lantern.
Here the quartermaster's whittling
propensity came in use, and another
pole was notched by him and press-
ed into service beside the last, which
served as a rack for our guns and
rods. Great care was taken that

PENKNIFE SOUVENIRS.

the notches which held the ridge-
pole were not too long, or they would tear the tent, and
that the angle of the roof should accommodate any pass-
ing shower. Then we cut short pins from the white
birches, and with the ropes at the sides soon drew the
tent into position.

While Bowley, our cook, was making bread and coffee,
trying salt pork and trout for our evening repast, the
resounding blows of Weller's axe could be heard in the
forest, gathering logs for the camp-fire, and Morris was
cutting fir boughs for the historic camp bed. It is won-
derful how comfortable a bed this makes, while its
delightful health-giving odor is so invigorating to the

CANOE AND CAMERA. 53

system. Our table outside the tent was usually made
of four forked sticks on wkicli we put others crosswise,
and on these we laid splits of wood, and for seats rolled
into position a convenient log, or used the many wooden
pails containing oui* provisions. On rainy days we sat
on the ground in the tent, and used these pails of various
sizes and heights as our "extension table," smiling to
think how easily we could conform to any condition in
the woods. At the head of the tent a choice position
was given to our photographer's camera and chemicals,
together with our traveling-bags, rifles, cartridge-boxes,
and books, while at our feet were distributed the pails of
provisions, and heavier part of our "kit." About one
and a half feet was allowed to each man for sleeping
accommodations, an imaginary line only dividing off the
guides, we being arranged somewhat similar to sardines
in a box, only our heads were all in one direction.

Immediately after leaving camp the next morning we
entered the "rips" or rough water of the river. For
about ten miles there was little necessity of paddling, the
velocity of the stream sweeping us along Avithout extra
eifoi-t. These last few miles were very exciting, as, fol-
lowing in the wake of the bii^ch canoes, we guided our
canvas craft past boulders and sunken rocks, while the
guides, constantly on the alert for our welfare, shouted

CANOE AND CAMERA.

or waved their hands to warn us of dangerous places.
Passing close to the bank on the left of the boisterous
water, we shot the Pine Stream Falls and soon rested in

the foamy waters below, where our artist at once immor-
talized the party.

The amount of strength and activity displayed by the
guides in handling their canoes past falls and rapids is
astonishing. With their slender "setting poles," eleven

CANOE AND CAMERA. 65

feet in length, armed at one end with a sharp iron spike
of six inches, they will steer the canoe with unerring
certainty, or hold it quivering in waters that would seem
to engulf it.

A hasty lunch, and we soon reached the mouth of
the West Branch (eighteen miles from the North East
carry), where a scene of special beauty biu'st upon us in
the white capped waves of Chesuncook Lake and distant
\dew of Mt. Katahdin and the Sourdnahunk range. Pad-
dling across the head of Chesuncook Lake, which is sev-
enteen miles in length and three miles in width, we passed
the mouth of the Caucomgomoc stream and entered the
Umbazooksus River. We had hardly recovered from the
exertion in crossing the lake, when we espied in the tall
meadow grass on the bank of the stream a large black
bear, who, standing on his hind legs, nodded an approv-
ing welcome. The quickness vnth. which he dropped on
his foui' feet and plunged into the thicket gave us little
opportunity to return the compliment with our rifles.

Another camp, and the next day we passed in safety
the Umbazooksus stream and lake, and at 8 a. m. arrived at
the long dreaded Mud Pond '' carry." This path through
the woods to Mud Pond is a little over two miles long,
and is detested by tourists and execrated by the guides.
Many weeks before my departure for Maine, I had been

CANOE AND CAMERA.

accosted by a friend (Avho had made tlie St. Johns trip),
and asked to give him on my return the full particulars
of my experience on this " carry." I was not, therefore,

MUD POND CARRY.

taken by surj)rise, but was prepared to meet it manfully
on its own ground, and fight the battle to the best of my
ability. I had provided myself for this special undertak-

CANOE AND CAMERA. 57

ing with long rubber wading pants or stockings, reaching
to my hips, and further incased my feet in a heavy pair
of canvas hob-nailed shoes, the latter I also found useful
in wading streams. Even while selecting our provisions
at the Kineo House, this and that luxury had been debated
upon^ or withdrawn as an article too hea^^ for transpor-
tation on Mud Pond " carry." Its obstacles to our senses
had also been made prominent by the daily conversation
of the guides, and our imagination of that " gulf " greatly
awakened. On reaching the portage, the canoes were
drawn ashore, turned over to dry, goods removed, and,
•each one selecting what he could support, we started off
" Indian file " to make the best of the difficulties. On the
right hand side of the path, within a few rods of the
Umbazooksus Lake, \^all be found a cool and refreshing
spring of water, at which we quenched our thirst. At first
the path was dry, and only occasional pools of water,
easily turned, interrupted our advance ; but soon the
pools grew thicker and thicker, lengthening to greater
extent than before, and, with our loads on our backs, we
plunged forward, sinking time and time again to our
knees in the soft muddy water. It makes a vast deal of
difference, the nature and position of the load on one's
back, and whether it is steady in its place, or has a shift-

58 CANOE AND CAMERA.

ing propensity. I liave known a pair of oars dodging
about on one's shoulders to be heavier and more inconve-
nient than five times that burden in guns and ammunition.
I had selected as the task for my left shoulder my shot
gun, and attaching to it a broiler, coifee-pot, gridiron, and
other impedimenta of camp and cooking utensils, detailed
to the right a bag of two hundred shot and rifle cart-
ridges. Picture not only one but six men so loaded,
forcing their way through the muddy path, slipping and
floundering, first on one side and then on the other, under
the conglomerated load of " camp kit." An opening in
the dark hot woods half way across, and our burdens are
lowered to the ground, to return to the lake for another
cargo. A lunch, and on we go another mile, where the
branches lock closer and closer about us, making our load
seem double its weight, until with joy we discover from
a slight elevation at the end of the " cany " the tranquil
surface of Mud Pond. A portion of this course is evi-
dently at some seasons of the year the bed of a brook,
and the writer found in a small isolated pool of water
only a foot square, a lively trout, four inches in length.

Our guides told how, during some months of the year,
they had dragged their boats two-thirds of the way across,
remarking that the only "diy" part this year, was the

MUD POND— LOOKING EAST FROM END OF CARRY,

CANOE AND CAMERA. 61

temperate loay in wTiicli tliey loere treated!^ The canoes on
the o-uides' shoulders were the last loads to cross, and, as
it was now 6 p. ^r., one can make some estimate of the
work done, seeing we had only accomplished txoo miles
that day.

Launchinof our canoes on Mud Pond, some two miles
in ^vidth, of uninteresting scenery, we bent our remaining
energies to the reciprocating paddle, and were soon on
the other side, and canoeing the sluggish waters of Mud
Pond stream. Its mouth was clogged by great weather-

* The use of ardent spirits in the woods ought never to be allowed by
either sportsmen or guides. There is enough stimulant and health in the pure
air, the piney woods, and clear cold water of the streams, to satisfy any one,
while the indulgence often places the sportsman's life in jeopardy. The awk-
ward turn of the paddle in swift water, or the careless handling of a gun by
your partially intoxicated guide, may at any moment bring disaster to your
canoe or death to yourself, while the selection of a guide should alicays be a
matter of the greatest importance, as he has the faculty of making your camp-
life happy or miserable. A friend of the author started to camp in the Ad-
irondacks sometime since, but discovering in his guide's "kit" a bottle of
liquor, and, being unable to obtain the refusal of its use, took the fellow a
three days' tramp back to the settlement, and hired another guide, rather
than take his chances with the first one. Scientific analysis has long since
exploded the health giving properties of ardent spirits, and in Arctic explora-
tions the line has been drawn between the vitality of men who drank water
or coffee. As regards using stimulants in the woods, I say in the language
of Mark Tw&va—'' don't / don't !! DON'T !!! "

62 CANOE AND CAMERA.

beaten logs, wliich necessitated tlie laborious use of our

axes before forcing a passage into Cliamberlin Lake.
The sun was hardly half an hour above the horizon, as we

CANOE AND CAMERA. 63

crossed this beautiful lake two and a half miles to the
opposite shore, and camped on its white pebbly beach at
the foot of a farm. This was the only one of three habi-
tations which we saw on our trip, and the delight which
we experienced was as great as the recovery of a lost
trail in the woods by the tourist mentioned in the follow-
ing incident. A brother angler, while treading a lone-
some path in this very neighborhood, found one day a piece
of birch bark nailed to a tree on which was inscribed
these familiar lines —

" This is the way I long have sought
And mourned because I found it not."

KEFLECTIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

" Oq the fair face of Nature let us muse,
And dream by lapsing streams and drooping wood ;
Tread the dark forests whose primeval ranks
Since the Creation dawn have cast their shade."

CHAMBERLIN FARM AND LAKE.— A NOVEL FLY-TRAP.— A LESSON
IN NATURAL HISTORY.— TELOSMIS LAKE.— THE "CUT."— A
THREE DAYS' RAIN STORM.— WEBSTER LAKE AND DAM.— AN
APPARITION.— THE WEIRD STILLNESS OF THE PRIMEVAL
FORESTS.— AN ACCOMMODATING FLY-CATCHER.

H AMBERLIN FAEM consists of one log house, eight
or ten barns, and about three hundred acres of cleared
land, if where in some portions you can jump from stump
to stump can be called " cleared land."

The buildings are situated on a hill fronting the lake,
and command a view of the greater part of the water.
Mr. Nutting (who with his three sons has charge of the
farm) is six feet high, straight as an Indian, with heavy

CANOE AND CAMERA.

laigh cheek bones, black moustaclie, and whose face is
thoroughly tanned by exposui'e to the sun. The farm,
with others in this vicinity, is owned by
Messrs. Coe &, Pingree of Bangor, Maine,
who possess vast tracts of this wilderness,
which they lumber and pass the
^ ^ result of their efforts to the mar-
kets along the coast of the State.

'^^

CHAMBERLIN FARM AND LAKE-
LOOKING WEST.

During the summer months
the products of the farm
are gathered into the bams, and are
used to feed the hundreds of "log
drivers " who in the winter and spring
are annually sent to this region. These
"loggers " are a hardy set of men, receiving a dollar and a
half a day when " on the drive," and work from 2 a. m.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

to 10 P. M., often exposed to great perils and tlie inclem-
ency of tlie weather. Large herds of cattle and sheep
are pastured here, and on the hill at the rear of the
house I noticed a number of mules.

■ i \ yS^n'j^ajdvs^

THE KOOM INTO WHICH WE WEBE USHERED.

The two-story log house in which resides Mr. Nut-
ting is painted an Indian red, and has the only embel-
lishment of any of the buildings. The interior is white-
washed, and has three rooms on a floor. The room into
which our party was ushered had low ceilings of heavy
logs, blackened by age and smoke from the big square iron

CANOE AND CAMERA. 69

stove wMcli held imdisputable possession of the center
of the apartment. In one corner was a great box con-
taining wood, which also served as a bed when other ac-
commodations were not available. From the ceiling,
hardly seven feet high, was arranged the clothes line, on
which hung a portion of the week's washing, while the
floor was made of logs with enough openings between
them to admit plenty of fresh air. Artistic taste had
not been wanting in the decoration of the log walls, and
engravings cut from illustrated papers were tacked there-
on, while in a prominent position was hung the portrait
of a late unsuccessful candidate to presidential honors.
Rough shelves nailed to the sides of the walls between
two windows supported a roll of old papers, a Webster's
dictionary, National fifth reader, Greenleaf's arithmetic, a
Bible, and Testament, while at their side hung a mirror,
and the family hair-brush and comb. But the most novel
article in the room was a fly-trap, which, although it dis-
played the inventive genius of the locality, can hardly
have its model on the many shelves of the Patent ofiice.
This fly-trap hung from the ceiling near the stove, and
was manufactured from two shingles fastened together
at the butts like an inverted V. On the inside was
spread molasses, and as fast as the insects became inter-

CANOE AND CAMERA.

ested in its sweets, it was the duty of the passer-by to

slap the boards together

^^■^,

and destroy their contents.
In addition to superin-
tending this farm and
stock, it is the duty of Mr.
Nutting to provide for the
various logging cani23s in
the neighborhood, and to
watch for the first indica-
tion of fii^es, whose de-
structive power in the
pine forests he fully re-
alizes.

Chaniberlin Lake, on
which we had pitched our
tent, is fifteen miles long and three miles wide. It has an
area of twenty square miles, is 1,134 feet above tide water,
contains a number of islands, and took its name from an
unfortunate man lost some years since on its shores. Years
ago a large dam was built at its northern outlet into Eagle
Lake, and the ^vater driven back south, through an arti-
ficial cut between Telos and Webster Lakes, thus enable -
ing the lumbennan to " drive " his logs to a home market
through the East Branch of the Penobscot river, instead of

KOT FOUND AT THE PATENT OFFICE.

OANOE AND CAMERA. 71

by the St. Jolins route to the foreign one of New Bruns-

A STUDY IN NATURAL HISTORY,

wick It costs fifty dollars a ton to. transport supplies to
this farm, and flour is nineteen dollars a ban-el.

72 CANOE AND CAMERA.

After our labors on Mud Pond " carry," we rested here
three days, taking photographs of the scenery, and mak-
ing excursions to the dams between Chamberlin and Eagle
Lakes, where we found plenty of exercise for our trout
rods. We also "sacked" our canvas canoe across the
hills on the east to Indian Pond in search of wild
ducks and trout, but were only rewarded by a study in
natural history which seldom happens to the forest lover.
Our discovery was a family of loons, or the great North-
ern Diver, a bird the size of a goose, and the finest on in-
land northern waters. It could be honestly said, " they
lived in flats," as their rough nest, composed of sticks and
moss a foot in height and two feet in width, rested on a
flat sandy knoll which stretched out into the water.
Against the unmistakable dislike of the parent birds, I
paddled to the front door of their house, and, gazing in,
discovered a recently hatched bird and one egg.

The egg was dark brown, spotted with black, eight
and seven-eighth inches at the longest, and seven and one-
quarter at the shortest circumference. The young bird
had every appearance of a goslin, with down of a gi-ayish
black, and did not seem in the least annoyed as I stroked
its glossy coat. Withdrawing my canoe, and creeping
quietly back into the thicket, I eujoyed the lesson in frog

vANOE AND CAMERA. ' 75

catching, taiight the young one by the old birds, and I left
them undisturbed in their happiness.

It was with great reluctance that w^e broke camp
early on the morning of August 12th, rolled our tent,
and, arranging our kit in the canoe, paddled out into
Chamberlin Lake and bade farewell to the scenes around
which clustered so many pleasant memories.

The fresh milk, butter, and eggs of the farm were a
happy relief to our regular fare of salt pork and hard tack,
while the fresh straw, which Mr. Nutting so kindly offered
us from his barns, for the floor of oiu' tent, added greatly
to our comfort.

But we had not started with the idea that in this wih
derness we were to enjoy all the dainties of life, for in
order to explore its depths we must give up luxuries
and comforts which at home seem indispensable.
■ How often in my earlier years, while pursuing the
study of geography at school, did my pencil in draw-
ing maps wander over this endless tract of territory to
the north and east of Moosehead Lake, striving to pic-
ture to my imagination its elements.

This gi'eat lake near the center of the State, togethei'
with few of the largest rivers whose source then seemed
a doubt, were about all that relieved the picture, and I was

76 CANOE AND CAMERA.

daily discovering new beauties of scenery little known to
the outside world.

" A land of streams ! Some, like a downward smoke,
Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go ;

And some through wavering lights and shadows broke,
Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below."

Through the long stretches of deep water of Cham-
berlin Lake we paddled, kee23ing time with our oars,
while on our right arose the peaks of the lovely Sourdna-
hunk Mountains, each individualized by the bright rays
of the morning sun.

Entering Telosmis Lake, which is about a mile m ex-
tent, we sailed swiftly through its quiet waters and passed
into Telos Lake, where, at the mouth of a brook on the
right hand, we were successful in landing a fine lot of
trout which averaged over a pound each.

Telos Lake is four miles long and about half a mile
wide, and is nine hundred and fourteen feet above tide
water, its northern shore rocky and abrupt, in comparison
vdth the sandy and uninteresting nature of its south
coast. The mouth of the canal or " cut " at its foot is
clogged with immense quantities of flood-wood, old logs,
and stumps, bleached to whiteness by the action of the
weather, which give it a weird and ghostly appearance
against the background of verdure. This "cut" was

CANOE AND CAMERA.

THE "WET AND DRY PROCESS

" OF PHOTOGR.'^Hy AS ILLUSTRATED BY CAMP LIFE.

78 CANOE AND CAMERA.

dug by lumbermen some forty years ago, to pass tlieir
logs into tlie East Branch of the Penobscot, but below
the old dam, quarter of a mile distant, one would never
suspect by its natural and picturesque shore it was the
work of men's hands, the force of water having relieved
its sharp outlines.

While our artist was preparing his camera for a pho-
tograph of the "cut "and lake, our guides "sacked"
their burdens and canoes across the clievaux-de-frise of
old stumps into the "cut," and we pitched our fourth
camp on the high bank to the right of the old Telos
dam.

Although we had been out fourteen days, we had so
far been very fortunate regarding the weather, but we
here experienced the first rain-storm of the trip — a genu-
ine northeaster of three days' duration. We had hardly
raised our tent and got our " kit " under cover before the
watery contents of the heavens began to descend, and
we took extra precautions to make ourselves comfortable
and endure the trial in the most cheerful spirit possible.
But I will not detain the reader with every item of the
three days' imprisonment. Encased in our waterproofs,
we resorted to the dam, caught trout, or wandered beside
the waters of Telos stream for ducks and partridges, giv-
ing little heed to the elements.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 81

It is amazing liow little one makes of discomforts in
tlie woods, provided he sympathizes with his suiTound-
ings. But to a nature having neither poetiy nor romance,
to whom a fall is only a suggestion of water power, and
a tree so many feet of lumber, the situation is unendur-
able.

Here our canvas boat was overhauled, cuts sewed and
waterproofed, birch canoes pitched, buttons adjusted to
our clothing, socks darned, guns and rifles cleaned, while
the " Quartermaster " busied himself ingeniously carving
pliers, scissors, and vises from wood, cutting the joints of
the same piece as souvenirs of the locality.

But the storm had one good effect; it nearly ex-
hausted the moose and bear stories of the guides, and
left them, in the future, only the current topics of the
day to discuss.

So far the days had been exceedingly warm, — ther-
mometer sixty to seventy in the shade, — but what was
our surprise on arising early on the clear bright day of
August 16th to discover a heavy frost, and the ice in our
camp pails an eighth of an inch in thickness. We were
first aware of the event by the exclamations of our cook,
Bowley, who was slipping about on the frozen ground
outside, and to our incredulous replies, lifted into the
door of the tent one of the frozen pails by the tin dipper

82 CANOE AND CAMERA.

whicli adiiered to its surface. Tlie tent was quickly
" struck " and dried, and, rolling into our rubber blankets
and bags our effects, we were cutting the waters of Telos
stream, and soon emerged into tranquil Webster lake at
its foot. The brook is about a mile long, and very shal-
low, and but for the late rain would hardly have been
navigable. An easy " carry " of a mile can be found
through the tall grass and woods on the right-hand side,
which also terminates at the head of the lake.

It is very essential to one's happiness, in making this
tour, to know on which side of the stream is the best
portage around a fall or rapids, for the knowledge saves
many a laborious walk when one's shoulders are loaded.

Webster lake is a charming little sheet of water about
three miles long, and perhaps haK as wide, which is
wooded down to its very edge. At its foot is another of
those series of loggers' dams, about twelve feet high, and
on the extreme high bank to the right we again pitched
our tent.

Great care had to be taken with our fires along the
road, that not a remnant of them be allowed to remain,
and the indications are often veiy delusive. Many years
ago a fire started in the woods on Eagle lake, and the de-
vouring flames, sweeping southward over fifty miles to this
section, destroyed this dam which has since been rebuilt.

AN APPARITION.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 86

There are many decayed and deceptive logs about
these old dams, some even a foot in diameter, which at a
slight pressure will crumble and plunge one into the deep
water below — I speak from experience.

A bear storj^ is always welcomed in camp, not only
on account of the truthfulness attending the first one,
but the doubts which hover around the succeeding tales,
add to their interest.

We stretched the canvas of our tent at this place,
and while each one was engaged in his various duties,
Weller, the guide, pail in hand, sallied out for fresh
spring water. He had hardly disappeared fi'om our
sight, when with immense Jumps he came tearing back
through the bushes shouting, a bear ! a bear ! A rush
for our rifles, and a forward movement into the woods.
But after an unsuccessful tramp, the she bear and two
cubs seen by our friend could not be found.

Before we left the wilderness, we had the unspeakable
pleasure of making the acquaintance of some six bears ;
but on every occasion we were mthout our rifles, and
when we made an effort to hunt them, they were not to
be found. We were either shooting a quick flo^ving
stream, and with difficulty keeping our canoes from the
rocks, or surprised by meeting them (as in the above

86.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

case) nearer to camp than one could expect, when they
suddenly appeared.

A few years since, Maine
offered a bounty of ten dol-
lars a head on bears, and the hunting or trapping of them
was a lucrative pastime, but since the withdrawal of the

CANOE AND CAMERA. 87

premium, hunters have decreased in the same proportion
that bears have increased.

As might be expected, around the camp fire that
night, the recent experience suggested hunter^s tales, each
having its special locality and party designated, who wit-
nessed the exploits, while the habits, courage, and pecu-
liarities of bruin and other animals were discussed to an
unlimited extent.

One of the stories told by Guide Morris related to a
tame beaver which had grown to be a great household
pet of a farmer living in the vicinity of Moosehead lake.
One night a defective faucet filled the farmer's sink and
ovei'flowed to the floor of the kitchen, whereupon the
beaver, following his natural instincts, cut up the chairs
md tables of the room, and building a dam about the
fugitive stream saved the habitation from further injuiy !

We tarried three days at Webster dam, where we
captured the largest trout of the excursion, and feasted
on many a fine duck and partridge.

To impress the reader with the idea that our table
fare was not so hard as might have been expected, I
would state that the items of the daily menu consisted
of fried brook trout, boiled potatoes, stewed duck
or partridge, hard-tack, "flip-jacks," with maple sugar,
coffee, and tea. Fish chowders and game stews were our

CANOE AND CAMERA.

favorite dishes, all eaten with the seasoning of a hearty
appetite.

FLY CATCHEKS VEKSUS FLY FISHING.

At this point we were probably as deep in this wil-
derness as it was possible to get in the trip.

The most striking feature of the forests is the absence

CANOE AND CAMERA. 89

of animal life, and more noticeable in our northern than
southern wilds. The stately pines of the South stand
from eight to twelve feet apart, and with a span of horses
one can almost drive from one end of Florida to the other.
In fact, the writer, in the winter of 1875, met a party so
equipped, traveling in an open wagon from New Smyrna
to Fort Capron, choosing their way by the compass' aid.
This open condition of things permits the rank growth
of vegetation and animal life, which the close-locked
branches of our northern forests prevent. In the latter
case, also, the continual sifting of the pine leaves on the
ground, and the gloom of the overhanging boughs choke
what few shrubs might have an existence.

Only along the rivers, or where the woodsman has
failed to spare some tree, dare anything but a courageous
blackberry or shrub-maple show itself. You may wan-
der for hours in this stillness without seeing a living
creature, unless you look sharply enough to mark the
insects which toil in the mosses underfoot, inhabit the
bark and decayed wood, or wait for you to rest before
settling on you.

But we occasionally entertained strangers of animal
life, and in one instance, that of an " angelic " order — at
least it had wings, and its mission was helpful. Our
artist, while casting his line from the apron of the dam,

CANOE AND CAMERA.

caught it on a projecting beam, and after vain attempts
to withdraw it, was successfully assisted by a little brown
fly-catcher, who, swooping down, attempted to carry to
its nest the bright-colored artificial trout flies.

ALLUREMENTS.

CHAPTER V.

"What time the golden sunset fell,

On wood and stream,
While we, the loss or gain

Recount, and deem
The day all glorious with its rents and stains."

THE PASSAGE OF WEBSTER STREAM.— AN EXCITING DAY'S
SPORT.— THE DAMAGED CANOES.— THE CANVAS BOAT TRI-
UMPHANT.—GRAND FALLS.— PHOTOGRAPHING ALONG THE
ROUTE.— INDIAN CARRY.— EAST BRANCH OF THE PENOB-
SCOT.—MATAGAMONSIS LAKE.— THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW
LAKE.— TROUT BROOK FARM.— GRAND OR MATAGAMON
LAKE.— A CAPTURED SALMON.

solT 5.30 A. M., August 20th, our camp was alive with
preparations for the long anticipated run down Webster
River, ten miles, to the East Branch of the Penobscot
and, as it afterwards proved, was the most exciting day's
experience of the two hundred mile tour.

Blankets, overcoats, and tent were rolled closer than

94 CANOE AND CAMERA.

usual, and leatter thongs five feet in length, (some three
dozen of which I had brought with me,) were tied about
•them, and safely crowded into the bottom of the long
rubber bags. Covers to the various provision boxes and
pails were secured with straps and ropes, and every part
of the camp kit made to occupy as little room as possible
in the four canoes. Rubber leggings and wading shoes
were put on, and all unnecessary wearing apparel wrapped
in rubber blankets and tied to the boats, that nothing
might incommode the free use of our arms in the passage
of the falls and cascades of the stream. The stretcher of
our canvas boat was fastened to the wooden knees more
tightly with thongs, that no possible chance of accident
might occur, while the pieces of extra canvas for patch-
ing the canoe, with their accompanying needles, wax, and
waterproofing, were tied at a convenient place in the bow,
and before we had completed the day's adventures we
found them of great service.

Webster stream is about sixty feet wide, and in its
course from the lake of the same name to Grand Falls
(two miles above its mouth), descends one hundred and
ten feet, while the falls, including the rolling dam and
cataract below, make the entire distance to the East
Branch of the Penobscot not far short of one hundred
and seventy feet.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 97

The stream issues from the lake with little force,
being clogged above by a mass of logs, the remnants of
various " booms." As it passes downward in its course,
heavy walls of rock, crowned by tall pines, arise on all
sides, often darkening the waters and producing a canon-
like appearance of the surroundings.

The course of the river is over immense bowlders and
ledges, often unobservable, just beneath the surface, while
others in sight stand like sentinels in the middle of the
stream, disputing one's passage. The flow is repeatedly
marked by beautiful falls and rapids, not high, but
crowded together in narrow parts, which give greater ex-
pression and grandeur to the water, presenting at various
p(nnts the most remarkable scenery in this section. Cas-
cade succeeds cascade, ending often in an abrupt pitch of
three to five feet, and at their base are dark boiling pools,
flecked with snowy foam. The river has not great depth
of water at any time, three to five feet on the average, but
we were fortunate in the extra supply of the last week's
rain, which, although it prevented many " carries," also
increased the volume and force of water to that extent
that made canoeing more hazardous, and filled our path
with greater dangers.

The ladened birch canoes had passed us do^vn the
river, when the " Quartermaster " and the writer, buckling

98 CANOE AND CAMERA.

their belts tighter about them, stepped lightly into the
canvas canoe and swung out into the impetuous river,
with feelings similar to what might be expected in one
entering a battle.

My friend at the stem held a trusty paddle, whose
strength had more than once been tried, while the
writer, in a devotional attitude on a rubber blanket
at the bow, held a long " setting pole " ready for duty
at a moment's notice. In half the time I have nar-
rated the above, we were among the furious rapids, bat-
tling with their difficulties, and shouting to each other
above the roar of the waters, how best to circumvent
them. The sun, unfortunately, shone the greater part of
the time in our faces, which produced a glimmer on the
water, often preventing the discoveiy of sunken rocks.
At one time, while dashing down a cascade, we mounted
such a bowlder, and, swinging around, leaped a five-foot
fall, stern first, much to our peril. Again, with mighty
force we were hurled close to the rocky shore, which only
a desperate use of the paddle prevented our striking.

At times we were obliged to hold the canoe in the
middle of the stream by the long " setting poles," firmly
planted in the bottom, while we made our decision regard-
ing the better of two channels, the dangers of which there
was little choice, then on we went through the rush of wa-

CANOE AND CAMERA.

ters, our " setting poles " keeping time with our eyes, noting
the sunken rocks by the water's upheaval, avoiding this
sharp ledge, or that rough bowlder, or swinging into the
foam of another as we shot swiftly by.

Often with ease we thought to pass a distant rock,
but mistaking the velocity of the water, doubled it by
a hair's breadth. One fall over which
the guides had led their canoes, we ama-
teurs passed in the canvas canoe, the
water falling in spray about us, but the
cheer for oui* bravery with which we
were greeted at its base, paid us well for
the risk incurred.

At " Pine Knoll " we were obliged
to let our canoes over the

falls by long ropes from
the cliffs above, and at an-
other, soon after, two
of the guides, Weller
and Morris, passed
safely in our canvas
boat, on account of
its slight di^aft of
water, although they
carried the birch ca-

LUNCH TIME ON "WEBSTili STREAM.

100 CANOE AND CAMERA.

noes around. So we continued our rapid progress down
tlie stream, running most of the falls, our boat conforming
to eacli situation, and almost seeming a part of us, and tak-
ing an interest in oui^ exploits. At noon we stopped for
an hour's rest and lunch on the right bank of the stream,
and while disposing of hard tack, canned corned beef, and
coifee, our artist plied his profession, and then on we went
through other perils.

It was fearfully fascinating, as our four canoes, follow-
ing each other's lead, dashed onward through dangers
which we could hardly anticipate before they were passed,
only to be repeated and repeated at every mile of the
stream. But the stimulant to one's feelings gave strength
and courage and even recklessness, which, in the wild sur-
roundings, made one feel as if no danger was too great
to dare. An hour after our tarry for lunch, we entered
the deep and narrow chasm of swift, dark water above
Grand Falls, and swinging our canoe into an eddy on the
left, under the shadows of a great rock (some five hun-
dred feet high), we stepped out on the shore, having com-
pleted the excitements of a half-day that many years will
fail to erase.

Our canoes had suifered less than we had anticipated.
A sharp rock had left its mark on Bowley's birch, which
the application of rosin and grease soon rectified. The

CANOE AND CAMERA.

101

bottom of the canvas boat had two small cuts about mid-
ships, so the use of needle and thread became necessary,
the " Quartermaster " and coTtipagnon-du-voyage, choosing
for their modus operandi

different sides of the ca-
noe, putting the needle
back and forth with iron
pliers.

A few moments' rest,
and while the guides were
"sacking" the camp kit
across " Indian carry,"
three-quarters of a mile
to the East Branch (at
right angles with Web-
ster stream), we gathered
up the artist's cam-
era and plates, and
pushed forward to
examine the pictur-
esque beauties of
Grand Falls, and
catch all we could
while the light lasted.

Grand Falls is from forty to fifty feet high, seventy

IT S NOT ALL POETRY.

102 CANOE AND CAMERA.

feet wide, surrounded on all sides, for half a mile, by
ledges of iron-colored rocks of nearly the same height,
which decrease in altitude as they near the Penobscot
Eiver below. From a point beneath, the scene is grand
in its somber magnificence, as the swift torrent, striking
midway upon a projecting ledge in the center of the fall,
rebounds in foam flakes, which, after the momentary in-
terruption, continue to fall into the dark whirlpool of
water below.

We place the tripod upon a prominent ledge, and,
mounting the camera, our artist prepares the plates in
his mysterious cloth-covered box or " dark room," while
we further exclude the light by covering him with our
rubber blankets. But the mist and spray blinds us, and
we are obliged to gather up the camera and retreat to
another ledge before we can operate.

The water, of a dark reddish hue, in strong contrast
with the snowy foam, circles around and around in the
eddies, kissing the rocks on all sides in its whirl, and,
amid the roar of the fall, goes dashing on for about four
hundred feet, and then plunges over a " rolling dam " on
its course to the Penobscot, making canoeing the balance
of the distance on this river impossible.

The light from above, reflecting on the cliff above the
fall, glancing with rich beauty on rock and cascade, the

CANOE AND CAMERA. 105

fantastic growth of trees on every ledge, make up a fas-
cinating charm that each succeeding picture varies in de-
tail, but which pertains with almost equal force to every
part of the entire chasm. While our artist was at work,
we busied ourselves gathering the luscious blue and
blackbemes, and scarlet wintergreen berries which grew
in profusion around us ; they were of great size, the
average bluebeny being an inch, and the wintergreen
berries an inch and a half in circumference — measurement
being taken at the time on the spot.

After filling a three-quart pail with berries, we di-
vided the artist's " kit " among us, found the " carry," and
pressed on to camp, to which place our guides had pre-
ceded us with tent and canoes.

Supper ended, we again sought the river's bank, a
mile below the falls at a place called "the Arches," where,
in the radiance of a gorgeous sunset, we again drank to
our fill of this picturesque locality. Words fail to de-
scribe the beauties of this scene, mth which even the
guides, slow to recognize the attractiveness of nature,
were enraptured.

" O Nature, how in every charm supreme !
Whose votaries feast on raptures ever new !
0 for the voice and fire of seraphim,
To sing thy glories with devotion due ! "

IQQ CANOE AND CAMERA.

Around tlie big camp-fire that night, each narrated
his individual experience of the day's adventures, and
the hair-breadth escapes in running the rapids.

" But," says Bowley, the guide, " you should accom-
pany the lumbermen ' on the drive,' and see the perils
they run while starting a ' jam ' on these rivers. Often
the logs are piled one upon another, until it seems as if
nothing but an avalanche would start them. But one
log is loosened, and then another, and another, and in a
moment the whole mass goes sweeping do^vn stream with
terrific force, and woe betide the unlucky ' diiver ' in its
path."

From the first of the trip to this moment, the guides
had failed to praise the working of the canvas canoe, as
it came in competition with their birch barks. But this
day's trial proved beyond question its qualities, and
wrung from them an acknowledgment they were not slow
to utter.

" It was fun to watch you, gentlemen," says Morris,
to the Quartermaster and myself, as we sat drying our-
selves before the fire, " you came over the ' rips ' like a per-
fect duck. I don't believe you could drown the craft if
you tried." While the French Canadian, Weller, taking
the pipe from his mouth, ejaculated, '■^Ma fois ! she goes
over the falls like a chain over a log ! "

CANOE AND CAMERA.

109

On Thursday, August 21st, we wet our canoes for the
first time in the East Branch of the Penobscot river.

although from Chamberlin lake to this point it is strictly
a part of the same stream under different names.

The river at this spot is only about fifteen feet wide,
very deep, with long meadow grass lapping and fringing
its border, and flowing with the rapidity of a mill course,
each bubble as it shot by seeming to have an individ-
uality of purpose, which to the writer was very amusing.

XIO CANOE AND CAMERA.

Hardly had we dropped into our accustomed posi-
tions in tlie canoes before we were swept away from the
bank, past the tall alders, and darted with lightning
speed down the river a mile and a half and out on to
the placid Matagamonsis lake. This was one of the
loveliest bodies of water on our course, dotted with small
islands and far-reaching points of shore, the tall Norway
pines forming a wall of beauty on either side.

The lake is about one mile wide and four long,
and the spruce-covered tops of Traveler mountains to
the southwest are reflected in its mirror-like surface.
From the top of a bold crag at its foot we stopped for
a sketch of the lake, and then passed downward through
the sluggish stream of three miles which connects it
with Matagamon or Grand lake.

To the left or east of this stream, and half way be-
tween these lakes, is another lake about two miles in
extent, which we fail to find noticed on any map we have
seen, and lies in close proximity to '^ Hay creek," but is
not what is termed in this section " a logan." (See In-
troduction, page 15.)

Half a mile from this lake, the stream passes under a
foot bridge, which leads to a farm on Trout Brook
stream, the first loggers' camp since leaving Chamberlin
farm, a distance of over seventy-five miles.

DISCOVERY OF A NEW LAKE.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

113

This farm, owned by E. S. Coe, Esq., of Bangor, con-
sists of four houses built close together, and eight or ten

barns, with about four hundred acres of cleared land,
through which flows the swift-running trout brook. Half
a dozen batteaux lay turned over on the grass, bounteous
crops of oats and potatoes were ripening in the fields,
while the industrious chicken (evidence of civilization)
was picking about the doors.

The house where our party dined was occupied by a
man and his wife and one small boy. The rooms to this
house were low and smoky, like all the rest we had seen,
with the big iron box stove in the center ; the only change

114 CANOE AND CAMERA.

fi'om the usual wall decoration was perceived in an adver-
tisement of Pinafore opera music, which, pasted beside
the other illustrations, made us feel quite homesick.

After dinner at the house, our party bade our new-
found friends adieu, and paddled down the Thoroughfare
into Grand or Matagamon lake, which is about one-third
longer than Lake Matagamonsis, and went into camp at
its foot, on the right bank, near another old dam.

The eastern shore of this lake (the largest body of
water on our course since leaving Chamberlin lake) is not
especially attractive to the artist, being low and covered
with meadow grass. But the western is decidedly pictur-
esque, being bold and rocky, which, climbing from eleva-
tion to elevation, finally culminates in the precipitous and
rugged peak of Matagamon mountain, towering above
one's head to the height of six hundred feet, and is
almost divested of foliage. We halted but one night on
this lake, but were well rewarded by the number and
size of the fine trout captured, adding also to our creel a
small salmon.

OUR SALMON.

CHAPTER VI.

" By viewing nature, Nature's handmaid, art.
Makes mighty things from small beginnings grow.
Thus, fishes first to shipping did impart
Their tail the rudder, and their head the prow."

DANGER OF WANDERING FROM CAMP.— AN EXPERIENCE ON
LAKE SUPERIOR.— THE FALLS OF THE EAST BRANCH.—
STAIR FALLS.— INCIDENTS OF CA3IP LIFE.— AN ENCHANTED
BOWER.— HUNT'S FARM.— AN ARTIST'S CANOE.— THE AS-
CENT OF HUNT'S MOUNTAIN— A REVERIE.— WHETSTONE
FALLS.— DISCOVERT OF JASPER ON LEDGE FALLS.— DAWN
OF CIVILIZATION.— MATTAWAMKEAG.— THE EAST BRANCH
CANVAS-ED.

X OFTEN thouglit how easily one could stray fi'om
camp, and, if without a compass, be lost in this wildei'-
ness. While hunting on Lake Superior one autumn, some
years since, I endured such an experience, and the bitter-
ness of it has always remained fresh in my memoiy. While
passing over the corduroy road of thirteen and a half

11^ CANOE AND CAMERA.

miles wliicli lies between tlie town of Ontonagon, Mich.,
and tlie Minnesota copper mines, my attention was al-
lured from the road by the melodious whir-r-r-r, whir-r-r-r
of a brace of partridges. Stepping aside into the thicket,
I followed as fast as possible the retreating sound, and
after a tedious tramp through briers and swamp I finally
brought them to bag. In the excitement of the chase, I
had given little or no heed to the path, or to the clouds
that were fast gathering overhead.

Starting back in the direction I supposed the road, I
traveled, it seemed to me, double the distance that would
have revealed it, but no familiar path did I find. In fact,
I was amazed in discovering that I was back on the same
ground on which I had started. There was no reason in
the thing, — no reasoning against it. The points of the
compass had been as clear in my head as if I saw the
needle, but the moment I was back, all seemed to be
wrong. The sun, which occasionally revealed itself,
shone out of the wrong part of the heavens. I climbed
one of the tall trees, but the very stillness of the land-
scape on which I gazed seemed to mock me.

I was not a novice in woodcraft, and could follow a
trail readily. I examined the bark of the trees to see
which side was the roughest, and then, singling out a
number, judged of the points of the compass by the way

CANOE AND CAMERA. 119

the majority leaned, and plunging into the thicket made
another and another attempt.

I well knew the danger of losing my self-control,
and, sitting down on a log, I covered my face wdth my
hands and waited until I felt calm and self-possessed
again. I have no idea how long it was, but when I arose
the sun was nearly obliterated by the clouds, which soon
began to discharge their contents in sympathy for my ill
luck, and to reach my destination I must make all speed.

I immediately struck a " bee line " in the direction
which my reveries had designated as the right path,
blazing the trees with my hunting-knife as I hastened
along. Soon I espied an opening, and, dashing onward,
what was my joy to find the old corduroy road, which
never looked more Avelcome in its life.

From Grand lake to the junction of the East with
the West branch of the Penobscot it is sixty to seventy-
five miles, the river being shut in on all sides by lofty
mountains, or heavy belts of grand old forests, through
which the swift river tumbles, with only an occasional
suggestion of the lumberman's axe.

There are eleven conspicuous falls in this interval,
varying fi'om twenty to sixty feet in height, while the
charming cascades are too numerous to mention. The
abrupt descents bear the names of Stair, Haskell Rock,

120

CANOE AND CAMERA.

Grand, Pond Pitch, Hulling Machine, Bowling, Spring
Brook Gravel Bed, Whetstone, Grindstone, Crowfoot,
and Ledge Falls, their names, in
many cases, suggesting their wild
and rugged formation.

The water swept so swiftly
through this section that with the
exception of the last twenty miles it
was hardly necessary to use our pad-
dles, but, keeping an eye to the
rocks in our path; we could silently
enjoy the many
lovely changes con-
stantly opening in
the landscape.

But this also
was decidedly the
hardest part of the
entire excursion. —
At most of these
falls, our whole
camp equipage, pro-
visions, and canoes had to be " sacked " around the falls
from one to two miles, and in many cases there was hard
climbing along the steep, rocky sides of the mountains

ON THE EAST BRANCH.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 121

wliicli followed the river's course, while eacli one of us
carried his portion of the load.

For two and a half miles after leaving Grand lake
one is constantly reminded of the day's experience on
Webster stream by the furious rapids, and we were
again obliged to call into action our " setting poles." In
a drenching rain, we were twice compelled to land on the
shore, take the canvas boat into our laps and sew the
cuts in its surface, laughing at the philosophical manner
Avith which we submitted to the circumstance.

Along the river's bank to the west, for many miles,
are the lovely Traveler mountains, whose rambling ap-
pearance and daily companionship are fully represented
by their name.

Stair Falls the " Quartermaster" and myself ran in our
canvas canoe, but the guides, tending their birches as if
they were glass, dropped them from step to step by
means of ropes.

This fall or cascade is a series of steps or stairs some
five in number, each about three feet high and ten feet
apart, the best passage being through the channel near
the left bank. It is a very choice bit of scenery, and
one that any artist would greatly desire to transfer to
canvas and work into endless variety of composition. A
ten-mile passage of the swift river, and we reached Grand

122

CANOE AND CAMERA.

falls, whicli, althougli higher than its namesake on Web-
ster river, being followed immediately by numerous cata-
racts did not so impress one.

Here we were obliged to make a portage of three-
fourths of a mile through
the dense woods to the foot
of the falls, and, in a heavy
shower, went into camp on
the opposite shore. To the
^' camper-out " a rainy day in
the woods is among the most
disagreeable experiences,even
tent, with good
company and
plenty of
amusement.
I But the dif-
ficulties in-
^ crease by be-
^ ing forced to
be out in the
storm, and to

leave your canoe at a portage and obliged to carry on
your back through mud and mire all your camp efl'ects.
Through the woods you stumble, pressing the wet

DROPPING CANOES OVER THE FALLS.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

123

brandies aside, whicli in their recoil push away your
rubber clothing, from which the buttons are fast disap-

ACCEPTING THE SITUATION.

pearing and the rents appearing, and whose special pro-
tection is sadly deficient, until the repetition of such
circumstances as thoroughly drenches you as if you had

124 CANOE AND CAMERA.

been without them. Tlie water is dripping from off your
hat to your neck and rolling down your back in icy
rills. The position of your arms in carrying your " kit "
is such as to lead a looker-on to imagine you are striving
hard to fill your sleeves with the rain, which you know is
a mistake, but there is no help for it. You clutch tightly
to your rifle as your pack begins to slip, striving to keep
the locks from the rain, while your boots have been inno-
cently occupied in catching every scanty drop w^hich fell
from your clothing, and you have every appearance, if
not the feeling, of the oft-quoted "drowned rat." You
would not have your wife, or other friend, see you at
this moment for anything. How they would laugh, and
hurl at you many of your pet quotations regarding the
" poetry, pleasure, and romance of life in the woods," until
you had rather endure another storm than their irony.

Then comes the raising of the wet tent into position,
the repeated attempts to start the fire, and the holding of
every individual fir branch in the flame to dry before
performing the duty of bed.

Two forked sticks with one across are placed before
the fire, and on them you hang boots, socks, blankets, and
other articles of your belongings, and, while the guides
are cleaning your guns, you examine the provision boxes
to see if they have escaped the drenching.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

125

It is amusing how stoical and indifferent one grows to
these circumstances in the woods, and soon makes but
little of them, retaining as serene and unruffled a dispo-

sition as if they were of no account, while after a warm
supper and a social pipe they pass from memory.

I will not weary the reader by a description of the
passage of each fall from day to day on our route, some
of which we ran, and past others we "carried," letting
the canoes, as before, over the difficulties by long ropes
from the cliffs above. After passing Spring Brook
Gravel Bed Falls, we paddled through a hiile or two of

126

CANOE AND CAMERA.

heavy "rips" and entered some two miles of "dead |

water." ]

On turning a beautiful bend in tlie river, wliat was ;

our surprise to observe the rugged growth of pines grad- \

ually disappear, and the landscape immediately softened i

by the introduction of a dense forest of maple, elm, ash, i

and noble oak trees, whose gnarled trunks pushed them- i

selves far into the stream, their branches overlocking :

above our heads and forming a canopy that darkened the i

water. :

Exclamations of surprise rang from our lips as all the :

THE ARCHES.
EftBt Branch of the Penohscot River.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 129

canoes in " Indian file " drifted through this enchanting
bower, and we thought to ourselves, if in the quiet dress
of summer this is so lovely, what must it be when robed
in autumnal foliage.

Passing the mouth of Big and Little Seboois rivers,
we pitched our tent on the left bank of the river near a
place known as Hunt's Farm.

The solitary log-house and barn on Hunt's farm were
erected some forty-three years ago, and are located on
high ground in a picturesque bend of the Penobscot river.

The house outside is painted red, white- washed inside,
with low ceilings similar to the others mentioned. In
addition to the cultivation of land near the house, an at-
tempt was made some seasons ago to press into tillage, as
a melon patch, the side of an adjacent mountain, but the
fruit, as soon as it grew hea\y and ripened, snapped its
hold on the vines, rolled down the mountain side, and was
crushed at its base. As can easily be seen, this elevated
farm was not a success, and now only the bright green foli-
age of a fresh growth of trees is left to tell the melancholy
story. Mr. Dunn, who, assisted by three other persons,
takes care of the place, showed us many attentions, sup-
plying us mth fresh milk and sugar, and other delicacies
that had been foreign to our fare at camp for many days.

The manufacture of birch canoes seemed to be one of

130

CANOE AND CAMERA.

the industries of the place, an immense one being then in
process of building for the celebrated New York artist,
Frederick E. Church, Esq. This canoe was twenty-eight

feet long, over four feet wide (midships), and when com-
pleted would weigh three hundred pounds.

The artist has recently purchased four hundred acres
of land on Milinokett Lake, fifteen miles distant, a tribu-
tary to the West Branch of the Penobscot Kiver, one of
the prettiest sheets of water in that vicinity. A fine
view of Mount Katahdin can be had from this spot, and
men were to leave this farm the following day to erect
three substantial log camps.

MOUNT KATAHDIN.

Study by F. E. CIturc/t.

CANOE AND CAMERA. 133

The ascension of Mount Katahdin can mth little dif-
ficulty be made from Hunt's farm, Avhere a convenient
ride on horseback lands one witliin two miles of its top.
I shall not soon forget the climb of Hunt's Mountain,
about twelve hundred feet high, opposite our camp, or the
magnificent view from its peak.

With Mr. Dunn as guide, in company mth the " Quar-
termaster," I started to make the ascent on the morning of
August 24th. To clamber up the steep side of a moun-
tain in the dense wilderness is an entirely different under-
taking from the follomng of a " bridal path " to the top of
Mount Washington. Cutting stout poles seven feet in
length, we set off up the mountain side, catching half
glimpses of the landscape below, as we swung from tree
to tree and rock to rock, which latter had been made ex-
tra slippery by a recent shower, and, after two hours of
laborious climbing, gained the bare but welcome crags at
the top. The first sensation of the prospect from the
summit is simply of immensity. The eye sweeps the vast
spaces that are bounded only by the haze of distance, over-
looking one vast undulating sea of forest trees, which
seemed to come rolling in to the mountain's base, with only
here and there the glimmer of a lake or stream, and little
to break the vision save the farm at our feet, where we
could just distinguish the white canvas of our camp. To

134

CANOE AND CAMERA.

the left stretch successive ranges of hills and mountains,
and at their base could be had momentary glimpses of the
windings of the West Branch of the Penobscot, while to

our right was its twin brother, the East Branch, over
which we had so recently passed, its misty falls and cas-
cades subdued to a level ^\ ith the surrounding landscape.
These two streams sweep away to the south twenty miles,
and unite in unbroken union at Medway, on their way to
the sea.

Before me arose the cloud-capped peak of Mount
Katahdin, 5,r.85 feet high, Wasataquoik Mountain, 5,245
feet high, the lofty Traveler and Sourdnahunk mountains.

CANOE AND CAMERA. X35

whicli, with the exception of the first, are wooded to their
summits. Broad seams, or slides, are visible along the
surface of old Katahdin, which, with its triple-peaked
outline, seemed to look down into the v^alleys with a fath-
erly interest, while '' the ^vhispering air sent inspiration
fi'om the mountain heights."

The thunder clouds had just parted, and a beautiful
rainbow arched the heavens, shedding its colors on the
glistening outlines of the valley and mountain. Oh,
that we might be left alone for hours, to watch the
changes of the landscape and hear the secret voice and
di'ead revelations of these mao;nificent mountains !

There are thoughts, deep and holy, which float through
one's mind, as, gazing do^vn upon such a scene, one con-
trasts the smallness of man with the magnitude of God's
works, and in the weird silence contemplates the perish-
able of this world with " the everlasting hills."

After such a prospect of the East Branch and vicinity,
it almost seems as if we ought to bid adieu to this en-
chanting river of our naiTative, but if the future tourist
shall desire to make its acquaintance, I would like to
guide him safely over four other remarkable falls to his
journey's end at Mattawamkeag, thirty-two miles below.

Two miles from Hunt's farm, we came to what is
known as Whetstone Falls, a series of high, picturesque

136 ' CANOE AND CAMERA.

cascades. Here we made a sliort ]3ortage on the riglit"
hand side of the stream, then shot across and down a
very steep pitch of the water close to the left bank, and
landed a portion of our baggage which we carried to a
point below. Then the guides ran the heavier part of the
falls, and, after passing the quick boiling water at their
foot, rounded to the shore and re-loaded the camp kit which
we had "sacked" over the ledges at the river's bank.
Then we passed, mthout accident. Grindstone and Crow-
foot Falls, each from ten to twenty feet high, the name
of the former being so suggestive by its geological forma-
tion that the " Quartermaster " declared that he could
honestly see the indentation of the axle. Another camp
seven miles from Medway, and in the morning we passed
Ledge Falls, which, although the last of the pitches on
the East Branch, was none the less interesting.

We passengers, to lighten the canvas, strolled along
the shore, gathering bright flowers and curious colored
stones, while the guides alone in their canoes ran the cat-
aract, meeting us in the " dead water " below. These falls
are composed of slate of a grayish color, which, after the
first steep pitch form into numerous cascades, produced
by the sharp ridges of rock, which, extending out into the
stream from both shores, decrease in height as they ap-
proacli the center.

CANOE AND CAMERA.

137

A dark red stone attracted my attention, and I waded
into the water to secure it, and on regaining tlie canoe
soon after, threw it into my camp-bag, little dreaming of
the value of my prize. On reaching home it was ex-
amined by an old and experienced lapidary, and proved
to be sijasjMr of exquisite grain and color.

GLIMPSES OF CIVILIZATION BEGIN TO DAWN.

A portion of the stone, as an article of jewelry, in-
crusted with the magic words " Ledge Falls," is highly
prized and now worn as a souvenir by the ^^^^iter.

138 CANOE AND CAMERA.

The stream now gradually widens, witli strong but
noiseless flow ; tlie mountains retire, and tlie banks of tlie
river are for tlie most part bordered by foot-liills and
grassy knolls. Glimpses of civilization begin to dawn
as we occasionally pass a log liouse whose lonesome ap-
pearance is only relieved by the happy faces of children
at the door. Corn-fields wave their tall stems, while
broad patches of potatoes (for which Maine is justly cel-
ebrated) flourish here surprisingly. It is a sudden
change from the forest's depths, after a month's camp
life, and seems to urge us towards home more and more
rapidly.

We are soon at Medway, the junction of the East
and West Branches, (a small town on the left bank of
the Penobscot River, of about four hundred inhabitants,)
and are speeding faster and faster thi-ough the broad
river to Mattawamkeag on the European and North
American railroad.

We have followed the river in its devious windings,
from a width of fifteen to now an expansion of over five
hundred feet.

We have felt the mysterious silence of the wilderness
at early morn, or as the twilight lessened and the shadows
deepened about the camp, only broken by the chirp of

CANOE AND CAMERA.

139

the cricket, or the weird and plaintive cry of the loons
on the lake.

Our tour has been one of daily excitement, filled from
first to last with grand old forests, noble Avaterf alls, pictur-
esque lakes, and cascades. A region in which an artist
might linger many weeks with profit to both eye and
brush, while the recuperation to one's health by the out-
door life in the diy atmosphere cannot be overestimated.

Springing ashore, we unjoint our rods, pack up the
camera, collapse the canvas canoe, and with hearts full of
thanks to the kind Pro\4dence which has watched over
our two hundred mile voyage, we bid adieu to our
guides, as we do now to the reader.

NET RESULTS.

ANOTHER CHARMING BOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF

CANOE AND CAMERA."

PADDLE ADD PORTA

FROM

MOOSEHEAD LAKE

AROOSTOOK RIVER, MAINE.

By Thomas Sedgwick Steele.

THIS TOUR OP

Over Four Hundred Miles in a Birch Canoe,

through the very heart of Maine to New Brunswick, is one of great interest,
opening a region entirely unlvnown lieretofore to the sportsman, but rich in
beautiful scenery, game, fish, and exciting adventure. The account of the
exploration, its hardships, and its successes, are given with great spirit, while
the illustrations are accurate reproductions from

PHOTOGRAPHS PERSONALLY MADE BY THE AUTHOR.

Mr. Steele has already made himself widely known by his contributions
to the public press regarding this paradise of out-door pleasure seekers, while
his artistic taste has made this book a fitting companion of "Canoe and
Camera."

A NEW MAP OF MAINE,

20x30 inches, has been expressly prepared for the work, which includes the
tours of the East and West Branches of the Penobscot, the St. Johns, and Aroos-
took waters, besides portions of Canada and New Brunswick, and supplies a
want long felt by tourists to these regions.

1 vol. Crown 8vo. ClotU. $1.50.

Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price, by

ESTES &c LATJRIA.T, Publishers,

■^01 to 305 Washington Street, BOSTON MASS

JUST PUBLISHED.

A NEW MAP OF THE

HEADWATERS OF THE

AROOSTOOK, PENOBSCOT, AND ST, JOHN RIVERS,

MAINE.

COMPILED BY

THOMAS SEDG-WICK STEELE,

HARTFORD, CONN.

AUTHOK OF

CANOE AND CAMERA ; or, Two Hundred Miles Through the

Maine Forests.
PADDLE AND PORTAGE, from Moosehead Lake to the Aroostook

River, etc., etc.

What is said of the Map bj' the well-known Sportsman's Paper, " Forest and Stream."
"A New Map of Northern Maine. — Mr. Thomas Sedgewick Steele, author of
' Canoe and Camera ' and other works, has just compiled one of the most satisfactory maps
of the great canoe tours of Northern Maine yet published. This chart is 20x30 inches,
printed on Government Survey paper, mounted on cloth, and is an invaluable aid to the
sportsman tourist in these wild regions, — in fact, to such an individual it is a most neces-
sary adjunct to the economy of his camp kit. From the extreme lower portion of the map
covered bj- Moosehead Lake diverge the great rivers of this vast wilderness, — the Main
St. John, Aroostook, and East and West Branches of the Penobscot, while a portion of Canada
on the north and New Brunswick on the east is embraced within its boundaries. Great care
has been exercised in noting many points along these routes, which, although of the greatest
importance to the canoeist, are seldom brought within the scope of the ordinary map. Along
the Main St. John every log house and portage seems to be conscientiously indicated, while
the many falls of the picturesque East Branch are noted, to the advantage and caution of
the voyageur of these waters. After leaving tlie fanns at Chesuncook and Chamberlin
Lake the tourist to the Aroostook paddles about two hundred miles through the wilderness
before reaching a sign of civilization, the first house being that of Philip Painter, while the
second habitation, one mile further on, is that of William Botting, situated on the right
bank, at a bend of the Aroostook River, called the Oxbow. Innumerable lakes and ponds
are spread out before one on this chart like shot holes in a target. These and many other
points of interest recommend this new survey of Mr. Steele to the camper-out in the wilds
of Maine. The map is published by Estes & Lauriat, of Boston, and is mailed, post-paid,
for $1.00 per copy." — Forest and Stream.

PRICE, $1.00.
Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price, by

E8TE:S «fe I.^A.XJRIAT, r»iil>lisliers,

301-305 Washington Street, Boston, Mass

■mi)

A. ^

^-^

THE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Santa Barbara

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW.

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